Mindshare Explains How to Close a Sale With Online Video

How-to videos aren’t just for existing customers. How-to videos, it turns out, can help companies make a sale.

While it might seem like how-to videos are there to help existing customers do more with a product, they also help people considering a purchase see how they might use it, and how it can fit into their lives.

That information comes from Joe Migliozzi, New York lead for digital at marketing services agency Mindshare[1], while speaking at Beet.tv’s recent video advertising summit. Migliozzi explained how his company works with Unilever to create videos that drive online engagement.

“We try to provide an experience the consumer wants to engage in,” Migliozzi said. “It doesn’t have to be purely ‘Here’s a 15- or 30-second pre-roll.’ It could be longer-form content. It could also be accompanied by additional content, potentially a companion banner that might give you additional options to chose.”

On the topic of how-to videos, Migliozzi said they can be a crucial link in turning browsers into buyers.

“We believe how-to is that final step that will actually engage the consumer but also get them to purchase,” he added. “It makes them feel absolutely comfortable saying this is the right product for me — and they know how to use it. Because sometimes they might be considering the product but they’re still in that consideration set. But now all of a sudden if it comes down say, ‘Okay, this is how you use this particular product, and here are the results you might see,’ and it’s something that the consumer is really close to buying…once they view it it will hopefully make them closer to purchase.”

Watch Migliozzi’s interview with Beet.tv below (used with permission) to hear more tips, including the role of YouTube influencers in marketing to millennials.